News in Ecumenism

The Silsilah Dialogue Movement works with Christian and Muslim communities. An interreligious peace movement in troubled Mindanao has won the prestigious Goi Peace Award, a Japanese prize previously given to Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the former president of Costa Rica.

At an ecumenical service in London, the Archbishop of Westminster and Archbishop of Canterbury joined together in calling for action at the upcoming G8 summit to tackle the root causes of global hunger. Ahead of the Enniskillen G8 summit, 3,500 people from all over the UK attended the service in Westminster before joining thousands more for the Big IF rally in Hyde Park.

The meeting between the two religious leaders on 14 June will be of deep ecumenical significance. Justin Welby, who was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury and world leader of the Church of England, in Canterbury Cathedral last 21 March, is to visit Pope Francis in Rome on 14 June.

Away from the international focus on Islamic states in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia’s increasing bigotry and religious intolerance has reached an unacceptable stage. Official impunity, extreme legislation and the complicity of state and non-state actors compound the issue.

The visit of Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, “strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood that already exist between the See of Peter and the See of Mark, heir to an inestimable heritage of martyrs, theologians, holy monks, and faithful disciples of Christ

Northern Ireland's first shared education campus for Catholic and Protestant schoolchildren has been granted planning approval. Up to six schools with 3,700 pupils are expected to be based at a former Army barracks in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Stormont's power-sharing government revealed today. The relic of the region's 30-year conflict is to be transformed into a 126-acre development to educate the next generation together.

In a monumental occasion for ecumenical relations, the U.S. Roman Catholic church and a group of Protestant denominations plan to sign a document on Tuesday evening to formally agree to recognize each other's baptisms.

While saying farewell the night before he died, Jesus told those with him that he "had other sheep that are not of this fold" and that those with him at that particular moment were not his only followers. Very importantly, he also said that he longed for unity with those others just as urgently and deeply as he longed for unity with those in the room with him.

During a recent book launch in Rome, a noted theologian said that China will be home to the majority of the world's Christians within the next two decades. “Interfaith dialogue is something that China, which will have the world's largest Christian population in 20 years, lives with every day,” said Harvey Cox during the presentation at the Gregorian University.

Ours is a Christian-Muslim union, and we celebrate what our daughter describes as a hybrid Christmas. It’s not as strange as it sounds, and might in fact be expected in our household. As a former Claretian seminarian partly educated by the Dominicans at UST, I have remained a Catholic, while my wife remains a Muslim.

A “bridge” between religions and culture at a global level: this is essentially what the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue [KAICIID] intends to be

Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Sistine Chapel Choir together in St Peter's Basilica. It is my prayer that this visit of Westminster Abbey to Rome will be blessed by the grace of God and move us forward on the long and winding road towards full visible unity, a goal to which both the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury remain committed.

For five centuries England has been in denial about the role of Roman Catholicism in shaping it. The coin in your pocket declares the monarch to be Defender of the Faith. Since 1558 that has meant the Protestant faith, but Henry VIII actually got the title from the Pope for defending Catholicism against Luther. The destruction of most of the libraries, music and art of England was not a religious breakthrough but a cultural calamity

"Confusion characterizes Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. Not one but three groups claim legitimacy as the national church of the predominantly Eastern Christian country." Watching "Europe 12 - Football Competition" helps us to think beyond sports and kicking a ball entertaiment. How is the Church in Ukraine?

He added that "the ultimate goal is full, visible unity", although "we should also aim toward the attainable goals on the way and a very important one is to deepen our witness together especially in public life".

“We come together to proclaim our common faith in Jesus Christ and mission that we can work together for our mission in a world where competition, fragmentation, division are so strong,” said Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila before addressing the conference at the Traders Hotel.

Religions unite to care for those most in need in Mandalay, Myanmar. Working together is an interesting experience, according to Fr Aye Kyaw. “The relationship between us will develop even further through this clinic, Venerable Seinnita and I already consider ourselves as brothers,” he said.

The Pope Celebrates Vespers at San Gregorio al Celio with the Primate of the Anglican Communion. In the Church of the monastic complex of San Gregorio al Celio - “birthplace of the link between Christianity in Britain and the Church of Rome” - the Pope presided at First Vespers of Third Sunday of Lent on Saturday evening, 10 March, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan William, Primate of the Anglican Communion.